Smyrna town manager helps create legislation to change state funding distribution
For years, Smyrna has had to rely on a special census to help determine their population on non-census years. Thanks in part to Smyrna Town Manager David Santucci, a bill to use population estimates sits on Gov. Bill Lee's desk, awaiting his signature.
'This will help us instead of having to do a special census and paying sometimes tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars in order to try to count every individual in your community,' Santucci told News 2.
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Santucci shared his idea of using population estimates with state Rep. Robert Stevens (R) and state Sen. Shane Reeves (R). Essentially, they'd use population estimates in the years between the federal census to help decide funding amounts.
Using Smyrna as an example, the U.S. Census listed the town as having a population of 40,589 in 2010. In 2020, the population reached 53,185. In between those years, a special census offered an account that wasn't necessarily accurate, meaning Smyrna missed out on thousands of dollars.
'We were showing a population of 53,000, and we believe we're somewhere in the range of 58,000 to 60,000, so we're probably leaving somewhere about $750,000 a year on the table, and you calculate that over a 10-year period and you're talking about millions of dollars,' Santucci explained.
Tennessee lawmakers pass nearly 600 bills this legislative session
That state money is used for many essential services that will help Smyrna and other municipalities keep up with growth.
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